


Training

by mysupernaturalobsessions



Series: Divergent (A Destiel AU) [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Divergent Fusion, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Protective Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-13 00:43:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5688013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysupernaturalobsessions/pseuds/mysupernaturalobsessions





	Training

Cas was still getting used to being able to look at mirrors. He stared at his tattoo for about the millionth time that day, traced his fingers over the two angel wings drawn just below his collar bone. He went to breakfast with the other initiates. They feasted on eggs and flat red meat. He tried coffee with trepid excitement, but it tasted bitter and he had to refrain from spitting the hot liquid from his mouth. He pushed the mug away. 

After breakfast Dean and Zach came to gather them. The older boys brought them to the training facility where they split off into two groups – Zach with the Dauntless-born and Dean with the newbies. 

“We’re going to work on strength training and fighting techniques. In a week we’ll start working with the weapons, but for now we’ll just be learning hand-to-hand. I’ll demonstrate first. You,” Dean nodded to a larger boy on the side. “What’s your name?”

“Uriel.”

“All right, care to help me?”

“Uh…sure.”

He shuffled forward. Dean backed up until they were both standing on the large gym mat. Dean beckoned him with both hands. “Okay, now set your feet. Good. Now hit me.”

The boy only hesitated a moment, and then he swung. Dean dodged his fist easily, grabbed his arm, and tugged so Uriel was left staring at the mat. He grimaced in Dean’s hold. 

“See? Strength helps, but not if you don’t know what you’re doing.” He let go. “Here, try again. I want you to jab three times – left, right, left. Got it?” He demonstrated slowly, his blows stopping before he touched Uriel at all. The boy nodded. 

He stepped back again. Uriel jumped into the first jab. Dean blocked each blow with his palms, but he nodded this time. He went through a few more punch sequences and then dismissed everyone to their own punching bags.

“Practice precision. That’s all we can control right now.” 

Dean walked by every once and a while correcting people’s form. He never came over to Cas, which was both a relief and unnerving. Cas punched at the bag with light fists. The material started to hurt his knuckles early on. He had never hit anything before and he became wary that it might take him a lot longer than the others to get used to showing aggression.

Hours later Zach gathered everyone together at the center gym mat. “We’re going to put your training to the test, one-on-one, each week. You’ll be scored on this so fight hard.”

“You fight until one of you taps out,” Dean said, glancing at his group with open wariness. Cas wilted under the scrutiny. 

Zach shook his head. “That was the old rules. New rules, you fight until you can’t. No surrender.”

Dean turned his burning gaze on his partner. “What?”

“Dauntless means bravery.”

“Good things those weren’t the rules when we were initiates, huh?”

Zach glared at him coolly and then turned to the group. “Now, up first, we’ll have Balth and Cas.”

Balth smiled at him, mouth closed. Cas could barely feel his legs as he shuffled forward. The boys turned to one another, arms up the way Dean had taught them. Cas felt his knees start to quake below him, and then the blonde boy was stepping forward. Cas fell back a step, and then another. Balth followed after him, constantly prepared to strike.

Cas’s back foot landed off the mat and on the hard wood of the gym floor. Balth glanced down.

“Reset,” Zach called.

Cas wished he could be anywhere but there at that moment. This time, when Balth struck, he stayed in place, arms raised. The punch landed low in his stomach and it hurt. But Cas kept his bearing and struck back, high at Balth’s face and that hurt, too. He pulled back, turning without meaning to, so Balth’s next blow hit him in the cheek, and then another straight on. Cas could taste blood in his mouth. He swung forward blindly, but his fist barely made impact. Balth hit him again in the stomach. One more punch to the face and Castiel saw black before he even hit the ground. 

He came to a few minutes later, still in the gymnasium. He watched the remaining fights with a pounding headache and stiff arms. At the end of the matches, all the initiates gathered once again. Charlie helped Cas to his feet. She had lost her fight, too, but she was in much better shape than him. They stood next to each other while Zach put the first rankings up. There were 32 initiates this year and the lowest twelve would be kicked out of Dauntless, left factionless and alone. Cas looked down, eyes bleary, when he saw the results. He was number 32. There was no way he would survive this. 

“You can only go up from here,” Charlie said on the walk back to the dormitory.

“There’s no way I’ll make it.”

“Maybe if it doesn’t work out, you could go home,” Dorothy said softly. “I mean, you were Abnegation I’m sure they’d take you back.”

Cas shook his head. “Even if they did, I wouldn’t belong there anymore.” 

He traced mindlessly over his tattoo. He skipped dinner that night and went to bed early, his body still stiff and painful. 

The next day he woke up early. He got to breakfast before the room got very crowded and then he headed off to the training room alone. He could get an hour of practice in, and maybe use some of the weights. Dean had said strength wasn’t really the issue, but everyone knew that Cas was small – that couldn’t be an asset. 

He came in early every day that week. On Saturday Dean found him there, below one of the smallest barbells the Dauntless gym had. Cas refused to be embarrassed about that. 

Dean opened his mouth and then closed it again. Cas set the weights back on the bar and sat up. He wiped the sweat from his forehead wordlessly. 

“You know there’s no training today, right?” he said finally. Cas nodded. “You should give your body a break. One day’s not going to put you behind.”

“I’m already behind.” 

Dean scratched the back of his neck. “You’re small, but you’re fast. If you get the first hit in and aim right, you could get the advantage. I could…help you more if you want.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Tomorrow. Right now, you should go. Go do something reckless.”

Cas stood, smiling bitterly. “Something Dauntless?”

“Nah, man. Something fun.”


End file.
